I remember five years ago today. It was not a clear and brisk but beautiful December day as it is today. It was an ominous, rainy, windy and spooky day. I didn't know why, but I awoke with a feeling of foreboding that centered around the appointment I had with Brian, his first at the neurologist to investigate his shaky hands. Little did I know that morning what kind of journey we were about to embark upon: the neurosurgeons and hospitals, the MRIs and the anticipation of their results, and the many, many follow-up visits that we still enjoy twice a year.
In fact, I have not even confirmed that all was well with the most recent MRIs in September, but we did call about that swine flu vaccine and nobody mentioned any problems. Brian has had no complaints about any of the related issues, so we'll coast through the next two months and hear it from the horse's mouth at our February appointment. I can't believe that it's been five years. Just yesterday, we heard about the death of one of Brian's former classmates, a 14 year old who had the misfortune to be born with a muscle-wasting disorder. I never really knew what it was, but he started elementary school just a little clumsy, but left in a wheelchair for middle school. All of this reminds us how lucky we are to only have a "little chiari," although I follow many who suffer a lot at the hands of this mysterious affliction. We are very grateful that the last five years have turned out so well for Brian, and we are cautiously optimistic for a continuation of this outcome.
On a slightly lower medical note, Wilbur continues to sublux his patella several times a day. I figured out that when he holds it up, it I pull it all the way bent, it pops back into place! He doesn't seem to mind, in fact, as soon as he feels the pop, he knows he's ready to run and off he goes. It's quite a bizarre malady my dog has developed. We met an older couple when we were out the other night and their pom-a-poo has it in both knees. They called it a 'trick knee.' Theirs is just bowlegged, though, her knees don't actually pop out all the time and make her go lame. Although Wilbur is getting pretty good at getting around on three legs. The problem with that is that his other leg is similarly affected, and if he stresses it too much, it might start subluxing its patella as well.
So I haven't worked in a while. I saw a few jobs yesterday but my head was exploding from the sweet drinks on Saturday night and the headache that took two days to get rid of. This morning I saw two, but they were not jobs that I would have been comfortable in. Also this is getting very old, this never seeing anything all day and then having to drag myself, bleary-eyed, to stalk the computer for anyone who might have woken up ill or with a sick child. I also cross-referenced to last year and I was not so busy at this part of the month, but it picked up as the actual holidays drew closer, when teachers start to take time off to shop and decorate. So we'll see. I really just have to be able to pay down my credit card bills by the end of June.
Anyway, in other news, the first high school swim meet is tomorrow at our new pool! There's a pasta party for the team tonight, which Megan will go to after her Y practice. I hope she doesn't have a lot of homework, she still needs to bring the grades in those few hard classes up a little. Oh, and she got her PSAT scores yesterday. She did pretty well in the math and writing, but her critical reading, as usual, was the weakness. Still, the score wasn't terrible, equivalent to about a 570 on the SATs - but there is room for improvement in that. We're counting on her to win some of her own tuition, either academically or through the pool - so the higher she scores, the more likely that is to be fruitful. Thursday night there's going to be a workshop for us first-time parents on how to afford college when you really can't. (Actually that isn't what they call it, but I hope it will be what they discuss!)
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